Jesse Rogers, originally from Ausable, takes a breather from renovations and rebuilding at the new bar he plans to open next month as the Pourman’s Tap House in Wilmington.

Photo by Kim Dedam

WILMINGTON — The sun broke through a wintry sky and scattered snow like glitter over Whiteface Mountain Friday as Jesse Rogers shared the view from his new venture.

Completely renovated, the kitchen and bar at the former Holiday Lodge is about to reopen as the Pour Man’s Tap House.

It will probably make the perfect Christmas gift for locals and travelers alike, breathing new life into a place left vacant for the past five years.

Its location at the edge of Wilmington’s busy Four Corners is something Rogers intended.

And it is right near the North Pole.

Originally from AuSable, Rogers, 33, returned to his home turf after college and is raising his young family in Jay.

“The town, the community needs this,” he said of the gathering place he has placed inside what local businessman Roy Holzer is redeveloping as the Four Corners.

It was the mountains that brought Rogers back home, he said, after getting his degree at SUNY Cobleskill.

“I always came back to Whiteface and to the people here. Now I have the opportunity to give everyone a part of what makes this place so great: a place to be together in the mountains.”

The Tap House is front and center and first.

“With the growing draw of mountain biking trails, the skiers and the locals, I feel like this is the space that could provide a real gathering place,” Rogers said.

The wide front windows gaze idly out at Whiteface, its hoary visage emerging from the rising veil of a light snow.

Running north from the Tap House parking, Whiteface Veteran’s Memorial Highway has closed for the busy tourist season, even as the mountain ski resort gears up.

The former motel was once owned by Santa’s Workshop, Rogers said.

For many years, it was part of the Christmas Preview set that brought families into town for a pre-holiday getaway.

The property was purchased by Holzer from National Bank and Trust in 2013.

Rogers is leasing the space made cozy with two fireplaces and a newly remodeled bar and dining room.

It’s open and honest with a very long bar.

The banquet room had a trial run with the Firemen’s Dinner last week.

Rogers hasn’t formally named the separate banquet hall, but he has a few ideas on the table.

The barn board around the entryway is repurposed.

“It’s a nice homey feeling,” Holzer said.

“It’s the kind of place where everyone is welcome.”

And it’s a venture designed to highlight some of the best local brews.

Rogers is looking to open with some 20 craft beers on tap.

With new mountain biking trails set to connect the Poor Man’s Downhill Trail with the Wilmington Hamlet proper, bike racks and outdoor seating are something that will arrive come summer.

“The mountain bike trails here are awesome. There are lots of routes with smooth inclines that are great for non-expert mountain bikers. It’s really a system that is perfect for everybody,” Rogers said of the summer sport that has added to the fishing and camping traffic in summer and drawn off some of the resort heat from Lake Placid.

In winter, the international draw at Whiteface pours traffic past the Four Corners.

Watching a November sun chase clouds off the ridge, Holzer said the traffic count at Wilmington’s Four Corners was clocked by state Department of Transportation studies at 500,000 cars annually.

The Olympic Regional Development Authority counts 70,000 vehicles that travel up and down Veteran’s Memorial Highway for the six months its open each year.

The Tap House will remain open all year, through all seasons.

“We are still going through the licensing process,” Rogers said. “We’re waiting now on them. If everything goes the way we’re hoping, I would love to be open for Christmas.”

Holzer admits the Tap House was a perfect addition to his plan to build an Adirondack general store above and beside it, complete with a cathedral ceiling and interior trees.

The rest of the property is not going into hotel lodging rooms.

“It isn’t going to be a hotel again,” Holzer says.

It was sad to see the condition of the old hotel, Holzer said of his first look at the shuttered Holiday Lodge.

But now, with fresh paint, a locally built bar and steel accents, the Tap House is intended to be a place where the working person, a tired skier or an adventurous party of fishermen could gather their wits.

The general store, in time, will supply items for outdoorsmen, Holzer said.

And the rest of the property will convert to three and four bedroom vacation suites.

The Tap House and renovations at Four Corners has had immense support from the Wilmington Town Council and planning boards, Holzer said.

The Pourman’s certificate of occupancy is due on Monday, Holzer said last Friday.

“We’re really excited about this,” Holzer said.

Rogers smiled.

“We are planning to have live music here and a big roll out for the grand opening.”